So I was thinking about getting older the other day. It is an interesting, as well as depressing, concept to think about at age 21. I was sort of comparing my life now, to what it was, and what it probably will be before long, and a comercial came on about an Oreo. I’m talking about the one where the guy says his kid dropped a cookie on the floor and the kid tried to pick it up and the guy told him not too cuz it was dirty. But the catch phrase is “I told him not to pick it up because it was dirty, but in my head i’m thinking ‘Five-second rule'”. That sort of sums up the total of what I’ve been thinking.
I’ve accepted that we all get older, we move on, we deal with what comes next. This is almost universally true, except for the few of us who remain stuck in the past wearing odd looking clothes, or those of us who have issues that dwell on well past when they should. But for most of us, in some fashion or another, we definitely “grow up” at some point, or have been for a while now. I’ve found that for me parts of growing up come slowly, and methodically over time, sometimes because I change without noticing it, and others because I work hard to change some things. But at other times growing up is a realization of sorts. There will be some point where you think that you are just like your father/mother or that it is time that you deal with some problem that your parents/gaurdian has helped with in the past. But this is not an entirely bad thing. Some people hold on to parts of their childhood that they should let go of, and they act like idiots, and others grow up too quickly and can’t laugh at anything or let loose. So I try to work at holding on to what has been important to me, and not forgetting what or why I thought something before that I need to let go of now and move on. I’ve been thinking more that I would like to get out of college and start a family. Don’t get me wrong, I love college and I love spending time with my friends here and just doing fun stupid college type of stuff. But deep inside something is starting to push me more toward moving on and focusing on whats next.
Now this has also been bothering me, why should I, BEN CATLIN, the 4 year old trapped in a beer guzzling 21 year old’s body, ever want to grow up and move on to real life. Well, I have to say that this is puzzling me, and I still don’t have an answer. I still want to maintain some of the fun, some of the cut-loose attitude. But I also want to buy a house, settle down, and have kids, so maybe I can take my turn at being a parent. I figure that by not only accepting some of this responsibility, but embracing it with an open mind and an open heart that I can maintain some of the child-like qualities you (and I) so love about me, as well as be a responsible member of society. And I figure if I can hold on to that stuff and be responsible I could make a pretty good parent cuz I could take care of my kids, and relate to them pretty well (that is once they are 4 and start catching up to my mentality).
So, my rambling thoughts on life will end here, and I will continue other ponderings at a later date……untill then,
Thank you, and goodnight.